Paul Jenkinson, managing director of LochAnna Kitchens, explains the background to the brand

Paul Jenkinson, managing director of LochAnna Kitchens, was at the helm of the Mark 2 kitchen division when the distributor ceased trading, leaving Paul with many years of relevant experience but no kitchens to sell. A long weekend spent speaking to many of his contacts left him convinced that if he could come up with the right kitchen package, the orders would follow.Just over two years later, and with around 400 retailers selling his kitchens, it would seem that Paul’s weekend of market research was time well spent.“We had the advantage of designing a kitchen brand for independent kitchen retailers from the brand up,” he explained to Grahame Morrison. “Our only route to market is via the kitchen specialist, so it has been designed with specific features to help the independent. “One example of this is the removable back panel in our base units – fitters love it! It means they can get the units in place and then remove the panel to feed the services through and easily cut out any access points. It also means that the base units themselves are extremely rigid – a useful sales aid in the showroom .“We use a dowel-and-cam construction system and can supply the kitchens as either rigid or for assembly on site by the fitter. Currently around 25% of the kitchens wee sell are sold as rigid units and the majority of these are delivered directly to the customer’s home.”But there is more to LockAnna Kitchens than the furniture. The company has put toger a complete kitchen portfolio that includes appliances from Belling and CDA, sinks by Carron Phoenix and worktops from Sylmer Technology and Plasman.